New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-12-28
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
RUSSIAN TALES.

RUSSIAN TALES.
-,,-v,op,x,. ana otncr .aiss. B. wL,DIMIR KoRo-
LeSxn In ln.sied fro the Russia, " Mr' Co
"A p,..s,AN PROPRIETOR. aud other s'ores. hy
~ Nv - ,oi. y TnisfpI TIHnsa'rd from IN" fiS-
ssn =. T,Ipts uA-kLLL DoII. I2ine' Pr. w. $40
The H.1e.
As Ing IS th, pres mt rndiserininating ana
.,ccss.,. fancy for the Russian novel lasts, the
ruhlieho are likely to provide rs with an ample
surpl, Not only Tie mas. cfpieces of Russian tic
Non er, oucn,d to rs. bat tie empire seems 10
have b,rn $ archca both for the carly and Tor
cotton sketches e grcpt writer's and for the IN
torior uradu. tions of new rCali-ts, who are all
c,aseod toc.ther rndcr the comprehensive name
NJ The Rvs ian,ss hocl TolStoi, perhaps who
burst into literature in his fun strength, always
rewards the picker MP Of such waits and Stra>s OF
fiction Al the ii ccs contained in the present
collection ere carly essays and that which gives
n title TO the volume is fragment Of on ahan-
aoned novel in which the author intended TO de-
scribe his own experiences among the poasahliy
of his estate. BIT in his early work io''toi oiu
not show himself immature. The pictures oil Tic
AMI cl,.,rc.cr IN Russian Proprietor arc
dravus,.jih irrn free Land, and arc not less re-
nar,zablo fr int ,usc and painful reality than the
best scenes If the famous novels. The authors
strcneth and his weakness may be rs well stud
led bc,o, go in his more elaborate fctions.
Kor lonLo's name will he unfamiliar 10 most
nj our r.adcls... He is a writer whose popularity
I'm Rms in dates hardly beyond yesterday, and who
has ati ,nptcd nothing Oh large scale. lie mas
been an exile in Siberia; and devoting his pen
largely 10 description Of the most wretched as
poets Of ex st nee, he ranges hlmsen decueoiS
with the rcaliSts whose disclosure OF me hauoh"'
ms,1y hopclcssncs 5. intellectual toip r ana moral
degradation r,sound through the world. Bnt I'M
like To,sto. whose patriotic and humane put-
lncsos ar never long out Of sight, kOrolcnko often
satisfies himself with mere bald na'uralSm
That is the case with the Sketches of a Siberian
Tourist" in the volume now before rs, series oil
charters connected by a fragile thread of un1in-
ishcd sory vivid IN the portrayal Of fresh scenes
and ,tirrinz incidents, but so filled with murder
,roblcr- outrage. meanncSs. and other forms Of
,dcpravity that we reach the end with rehel, ana
with an impulse 90 throw the book away. Inc
1c.t Of the tales is \ Sdghalinian'' which helhs
fold by a vagrant," or escaped convict, accounts
for the title Of the volume. 1t IS a narrative Of
The ADVENTURES Of a band Of prisoners VINO maze
their way from the convict establ Shment on
Sacha!i.n Island 20 the mainland of S.beria' ana
take up the weary tramp across the Asi"uc CON
'tinCnt toward their native Russia A"1lI'"oi'
alike for the minute description oil strange cV"-
1itions Of life and the exhibition Of striking types
lof character il has the same faults OF mcon-
inlet ness and uncertainty which inlure u'e
" Sketches of a Siberian Tourist otAer pa
NOR The Old Bell Ringer" The Forest
Sor.hs~ and Easter Night" DEPEND upon Inc
stvle for a good part o. their cfect-especidly
the first and ast-and although Mis-. D'iaho WHO
* a NyS,.an has turrcd the original mo ProPS
acad mic English, ii would have been too muoh 10
cxrcct her to preserve its full individual u"Nor'
We csu understand why the pp'arahce "i 'ut
Dus,an school of novclists and storl-teherS So"''
have made profound sensation III RUSSIA ns'H'
We can understand why their terrible rcailSll'
the pcssmistic philosophy OF one class 'he s"'"-o
rcs,,trorts Of another the appalling fcN'4"'ioH'
Of national abasemcnt and social disorder hdne o|
OIL sloplJ he en- rcrly watched abroad. But in our
absorbing interest IN these new themes OF HteId1A
exercise and our admiration OF the genius VII"
which enc or t,vo great novelists have handled
them. we are in danger Of putting false cru
cal estimate upon tie whole Russian scho0i-ol
anplaudng crudity under the name OF smpliclty'
Hulrcss under the name Of truth, and bare lack Oh
art a. the rule OF nature. KOrolcnko TOT cNampe'
docs not write good stories 1t would be c'sE 10
name half a dozen American authors who excel MN
In construction, in dramatic skill, in subtle suS
restivcuoss in pathos. in poctical or moral pur-
nos. and even in the realistic dcincaton oi
nanncis q life and types oil character. The best
short stories in the world now written III
america. But korolenlo and his class are pre-
eminent for the fresh and forcible presentnent OF
experience. under the pressure of intense personal
feeling and il is because of this pressure OF feeling
that They command our attention, not because they
have found any new principles of art.